Bravewriter or Home 2 Teach or What?

[kpacademy]

This is a cross-post from the K-8 board since I have one that will be in high school this fall and one in middle school.

Would any of you who have used Bravewriter or Home 2 Teach for the high school level please tell me a little about your experience. I noticed that Bravewriter is much more expensive than Home 2 Teach so I am trying to determine what the differences are.

We used Write at Home year before last for a 7th grader so I know how it is set up. Writing is just one thing our science-math minded household just doesn't seem to do very well. I am interested in online options where we would have a real deadline that would have to be met!

Any help would be appreciated.

[Michelle in MO]

SAT/ACT timed essay class, and just finished it. I thought that Julie Bogart gave excellent explanations for how the essays should be written, plus she has a very "nurturing" attitude towards writers. I wish I could say my oldest did better well with the course, but she struggled. She tends to be rather shy and "private", i.e., she wants to write for herself but not for others yet. The Bravewriter SAT/ACT class was posted in a forum style, so that the other writers could read and make comments on everyone's work. Everything was kept extremely positive; nothing critical or harsh was exchanged between any of the students. I just think my oldest struggled with this format, although she'll encounter it later in life, too. Julie even said at the end of the class that she wished she had known the disposition of my oldest, because she could have worked with her differently.

I can't compare Bravewriter to Home 2 Teach, but I've heard good things about Write@Home. We've had Cindy Marsch of Writing Assessment Services do several tutorials with our oldest two, and Cindy is very kind, precise, and really challenges the kids to think. Her tutorials have been extremely helpful. So---I can compare Bravewriter and Cindy Marsch. Both are very, very good---just a different approach.